ABI Research: Samsung And Apple Owning Smartphone Profits
Wondering who all is winning the smartphone sprint right about now? There's a survey for that. ABI Research has just published its latest figures on the matter, showing that although smartphone shipments grew 41% year-over-year to 144.6 million as of the quarter ending March 2012, many smartphone OEMs are not enjoying the benefits of a rapidly expanding market. Samsung and Apple captured 55% of global smartphone shipments in 1Q'2012 and over 90% of the market's profits. In other words, if you aren't Samsung or Apple, is it even worth being in this market? That's something that we're sure the executives at LG, HTC and Samsung are pondering.
Of the top ten smartphone OEMs, only Samsung and Sony experienced sequential growth in shipments over 4Q'2011. Nokia witnessed a 40% sequential decline in shipments and may soon be passed by ailing RIM in shipments despite the BlackBerry maker's 20% sequential decline in shipments. "At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5000% in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments," says Michael Morgan, senior analyst, devices, applications & content. Sadly, we sort of find that impossible to imagine -- one has to wonder what would've happened had Nokia sided with Android instead of Windows Phone, which still can't get a grip in the U.S. consumer market.
Of the top ten smartphone OEMs, only Samsung and Sony experienced sequential growth in shipments over 4Q'2011. Nokia witnessed a 40% sequential decline in shipments and may soon be passed by ailing RIM in shipments despite the BlackBerry maker's 20% sequential decline in shipments. "At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5000% in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments," says Michael Morgan, senior analyst, devices, applications & content. Sadly, we sort of find that impossible to imagine -- one has to wonder what would've happened had Nokia sided with Android instead of Windows Phone, which still can't get a grip in the U.S. consumer market.
